Monday, January 1, 2018

Bowl o' Beans Minestrone

Minestrone Soup is a fat free, high fibre recipe perfect for pressure #canning the bounty of summer. Crack open a jar in February and relive July!

Bowl o' Beans Minestrone

Well, I hope everyone had a joyous holiday season and a safe New Year's Eve! We kept things pretty quiet around here, but I'm ready to get back into the swing of work and school (did I just say that?). At any rate, my district has one more week to recuperate before classes begin, so I'm going to make the best of it!

Of course, with the New Year come some traditions - I'm not one for resolutions, but I do enjoy the benefits of some superstitions around the world. One of them is consuming beans and greens on New Year's Day to ensure prosperity and fortune. Obviously, there are thousands of variations on this theme - hoppin' John and collards, Italy's ribollita, even moong palak in India. I love them all, but sometimes (especially during this busy, -21C time of year) soup is what needs to be on the menu.

Pressure Canned Minestrone

To keep with the theme, I cracked open a jar of homemade minestrone soup that I had made and pressure canned back in September. Each quart was laden with toothsome kidney beans, potatoes, onions and homegrown produce - including carrots, tomatoes (both "sauced" and dried) and the mandatory greens in the form of homemade beet green powder. While there was no pasta in the mix (it's dangerous to can grains, rice and pasta), I enjoyed mine as-is, while my mom tossed in some pre-cooked gluten free macaroni that we had in the fridge when she heated up her bowl. Either way, the taste of this stick-to-your-ribs comfort food blows away anything in the canned goods aisle of the supermarket and even some of the local restaurants.

While I don't know if minestrone will grace me with fortune and prosperity, I do know that it was definitely a great way to enter 2018. Now if only I can stop writing 2017 on things!

Pressure Canned Minestrone

Bowl o' Beans Minestrone
Adapted from Creative Chicks at Play
Makes 5 quarts, 20 (1 cup) servings
1 ½ cup dried kidney beans
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
8 oz fresh or frozen chopped green beans
1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
1 - 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 cups plain, no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 tbsp tomato flakes (optional, I used homemade)
2 tbsp beet green powder (optional, I used homemade)
1 Tbs. parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. Pepper
2 tsp kosher salt
  1. Soak the beans in cool water overnight.
  2. Drain and add to a large pot with the remaining ingredients.
  3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes
  4. Fill jars ½ way with solids, top with broth to 1” headspace
  5. Can in a pressure canner at 10 lbs. pressure for 90 minutes. If not canning, cook the beans separately first before adding to the soup and store in the fridge or freezer.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 66.7
Total Fat: 0.2 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 507.7 mg
Total Carbs: 15.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.4 g
Protein: 3.7 g

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